The Curious Case of the Granger Boys
by Dovewing123
Summary: 11 years ago a boy appeared on the Granger's doorstep. A year later they adopt a boy taken away from an abusive home. All they want is a normal home. But 10 years later, Dudley, Draco, and Hermione are off to Hogwarts. Nothing will be normal again.
1. Prolouge

Disclaimer: I am not JK Rowling, nor will I ever be.

The full moon beat down on the pavement, revealing the silhouette of a small, cloaked figure. The figure looked at her surroundings and quickly walked to the doorway across the street. She placed the bundle she carried on the step, far enough from the door that it would not be hit by any careless opening. A gleam of silver-blond hair — hair that matched the longer hair of the woman — could be seen peaking out of the black swaddling cloth, framing a tiny, pale face. The woman laid an envelope labeled "To Mr. and Mrs. Granger" on the bundle and whispered "Goodbye, Draco." Then she turned, walked away, and vanished with a crack like lightning.

About a year later

There was a knock at the door and Vernon Dursley shoved young Harry Potter, who was barely past a year old, into the storage cupboard with a hiss to be quiet. He opened the door with a gruff "Yes?" only to find two suited officials, one man and one woman.  
"Hello, Mr…" the woman checked her clipboard, "Dursley. We're from Child Services. It has come to our attention that you have recently gained custody of one," she checked her clipboard again, "Harry Potter. We just need to make sure that you're treating him properly, standard procedure, nothing to worry about. May we come in?"  
"Of course." Vernon replied with a nervous chuckle. "Just… wait in the kitchen, I'll get the boy."  
The officials nodded and went in the direction he showed them, eyeing him suspiciously.  
Vernon hurriedly unlocked the cupboard door with a hiss of "Out, boy!" and little Harry scurried out of the tiny space. Vernon put a hand on his shoulder, at which Harry flinched, and forced him into the kitchen. "Here he is. Tiny little thing."  
"Yes…" the other man agreed. "But isn't he thin for his age?" This was an understatement — in the few short weeks Harry had been at his aunt and uncle's house he had lost nearly half of his body weight.

"He's a bit scrawny, yes. It's nothing to worry about." Vernon clapped Harry on the shoulder and the young boy winced, then nodded in scared agreement.

The woman narrowed her eyes, seeing the flinch.

"Are you alright, Harry?"

Harry nodded quickly, eyes wide. He glanced up at his uncle to make sure he was doing the right thing, then nodded again.

"Come here." The lady commanded softly, beckoning to Harry. Harry timidly walked forward until he was just out of reach of the lady. She beckoned again and he walked a little bit closer, enough so that she could reach him. She took a hold of the shoulder of his shirt and pulled gently down, revealing large purple bruises. She took a quick intake of breath and drew her hand back, whereupon Harry stepped back out of reach again.

"Mr. Dursley, why has his shoulder not been looked at?" the man said, looking through the papers for any record of a doctor's visit. There was none.

"Um, well, you see…" Vernon blustered, trying and failing to come up with an answer.

A few minutes later, the man was leading Vernon out to the car in handcuffs while the woman stayed with Harry. She would wait with him until Petunia came home with Dudley, then it would be off to the orphanage with the two children while Petunia went the same way as her husband: straight to jail.


	2. At the Orphanage

Please note that, as I have never been in the child-services system, much less the English child-services system, I will probably get details of the system wrong. So don't take anything I say about orphanages or adoptions as fact.

Disclaimer: I am not, nor shall I ever be, JK Rowling. As such I own none of the characters that you recognize or the settings that you recognize.

The past few days had been a blur to Dudley Dursley. When his mummy had brought him home, a strange lady had taken them away, and then left him and his cousin in the car while she took his mummy into a building. Soon after, the strange lady had come back to the car and driven them somewhere else, taken them out, and handed them off to another lady. The second lady – who had called herself Miss Nina – had taken them to a room with a bunch of other kids, some around Dudley's age and some quite a bit older.

It was around this point that Dudley decided that he wanted his mummy back, and so he decided to do what always worked at home: he threw a fit. A few of the other kids glanced at him, but other than that he wasn't getting any attention. No adults came in to give him what he wanted; nobody even looked at him after a few curious glances. After a few minutes he realized that he wasn't getting anywhere by having a fit, which shocked him so much that he shut his mouth and sat up from where he had been kicking the floor. He looked around the room, quietly now, and realized that in all this time that he had been screaming his cousin had not moved an inch from where he had been placed, nor had he said a single word.

_Hmmm,_ Dudley thought,_ My cousin. Daddy always told him to do things, and he did them. Would that work for me?_ So, with this thought in mind, Dudley went over to his cousin and said, "You! Get my Mummy!" and pushed him like he had seen his Daddy do. His cousin stumbled backward with a fear in his eyes Dudley hadn't seen a minute ago. The order had called some attention, though, from one of the older boys. The older boy came over to Dudley and placed a hand on his shoulder, saying, "Kid, we all want our mums back, but that's not happening, and we don't tolerate you little brats fighting. So don't push him around, got it?" Dudley didn't quite understand everything the older boy had said, but 'don't' and 'push' were clear, so Dudley nodded.

"Now what are your names?" the older boy asked.

Dudley stared blankly at him, not quite understanding the question. After a period of silence, his cousin spoke up.

"He is Dudley."

The older boy turned to look at him, a bit surprised that he would be the first to speak after not having talked for so long.

"And you? What's your name?"

Dudley tried to remember his cousin's name; after all, if his cousin new his name, should he know his cousin's? But he couldn't remember hearing it ever; his Daddy always just said 'Boy' or 'You'.

"I am Harry."

_So that is his name. Harry, _Dudley thought.

"Alright, Dudley and Harry. Settle in with the other little brats. Dinner isn't for a while, so you have plenty of time to find space. Brats stay down here in the front of the room, the older kids like me stay to the back of the room. Remember that. Don't come to the back of the room, because there are some kids who aren't as nice as me who eat brats like you for breakfast. Welcome to the 'Happy Home' orphanage." The kid's tone had a false brightness to it when he said the name of the orphanage, like he didn't think it fit. Then he went to the back of the room, leaving Dudley and Harry to fend for themselves.

The first day went pretty well; Dudley and Harry had found two empty beds that happened to be right next to each other, though Dudley didn't care all that much. He didn't feel close to his cousin at all; the only thing Dudley knew Harry was good for was following orders, but after the warning from the older kid Dudley knew not to try ordering Harry around. He didn't want any of the other older kids to come and eat him, like the first older boy had said.

They had dinner a few hours after they had found beds. Dudley thought his fare was horrible, but he kept his comments to himself and ate what little was there. Harry, on the other hand, looked like he was having a feast. He kept his plate close to his body, as though afraid somebody would steal it, and at about three-quarters of the food before he was full. He looked at the plate with longing, wanting to eat more, but at the same time held his stomach with one hand as if in pain. His half-starved stomach couldn't take this much food, even if it was the normal share for a growing young toddler. He finally pushed the rest of his meal over to Dudley, who gladly ate the extra food.

The next day the kids woke up, had breakfast (Harry once again gave a portion of his food to Dudley), and then played in their rooms until lunch. Dudley noticed the older kids left after breakfast, though he didn't know where they had gone. When he asked someone ("Where did the other kids go?") he was told "School." Dudley had no idea where this 'school' was, but the older kids didn't come back until a few hours after lunch. After another dinner the kids slept, and the next day repeated the same schedule.

And so the days passed, but on the fifth night after they had arrived, something strange happened. Dudley woke up in the middle of the night to nearly complete darkness – not even the night-light was on. The only light came from the quarter-moon shining through the window. The light revealed a man dressed in purple robes and a pointed purple hat standing next to Harry's bed. The man had a long silver beard, a crooked nose, and half moon spectacles. The man met Dudley's gaze with a twinkle in his eye, raised a finger to his lips, and picked up a sleeping Harry in his arms. The man then took out a rectangular thingamabob, clicked it once, and vanished into thin air with a faint 'pop', taking Harry with him.

The next morning, Dudley seemed to be the only one who noticed Harry was gone. Nobody else said anything, and Dudley kept his mouth shut about it like the old man had told him to, for fear that he would be taken away as well. _Maybe,_ Dudley thought, _Maybe they all think he was adopted like those other kids were._ Over the past five days Dudley had learned about adoption: a new family would come and take you with them, and they would be your new parents. Little kids were more likely to be chosen ("Luck brats." was the comment from the older kids) because they were young and cute. A couple of kids had been adopted over the past few days, but not many. Even though he missed his parents, Dudley wanted a new family very badly. He didn't like the orphanage; the beds weren't as comfortable as they had been at home, and he didn't have any friends. _I wish I would be adopted._ Dudley thought to himself. _I hope that a new family will come for me, and then I will have friends._

And the very next day, Dudley's seventh day at the orphanage, the Grangers arrived.


	3. Meet The Grangers

Please note that, as I have never been in the child-services system, much less the English child-services system, I will probably get details of the system wrong. So don't take anything I say about orphanages or adoptions as fact.

Disclaimer: I am not, nor shall I ever be, JK Rowling. As such I own none of the characters that you recognize or the settings that you recognize.

It was mid-morning when the Grangers came into the building. The older kids were at school, but the younger kids were all playing in their room. Dudley wasn't playing with the other kids; instead he was sitting on his bed thinking about and wishing for a new family. Then four people walked in with Miss Nina: a tall, thin brown- haired man, a medium-height, brown-haired woman, a little girl with bushy brown hair and an overbite, and a little boy with silvery-blond hair and grey eyes. The two children clung to their parents' hands and the blonde boy stuck to his mum's side like he would never, ever let go. The little girl was holding her father's hand nearly as tightly as the little boy was clinging to his mum, but she was pulling him into the room and looking around with bright, intelligent eyes.

All of the faces in the room turned to look at the family, each pair of eyes shining in hope that this would be the family to take them home. Most of the kids who were old enough to walk and talk came over to the family and greeted them. Dudley stayed sitting on his bed, just watching. This – families coming in – had happened a number of times in Dudley's seven days at the orphanage, and only a few families had actually adopted someone. He knew from the first couple of times that it was best to wait until the first crowd of children had scattered before approaching the family.

He noticed that the bushy-haired girl had let go of her father's hand and was talking to some of the other kids. She had managed to pry her brother off of her mum and was now holding his hand as she dragged him around the group. She looked around suddenly, searching for the eyes she felt on her back, and made eye contact with Dudley. In an instant, she had said goodbye to the kid she was talking to before and dragged her brother over to where Dudley was sitting.

"Hi!" She said brightly, surprisingly clear for such a young girl. "My name is Hermione, and I am two. What is your name?"

Dudley blinked for a second, taken aback by her fast speech, then replied: "Dudley."

"Nice to meet you, Dudley! This is my brother Draco, he's almost one and a half. Mummy and Daddy say that we are getting a new sibling, if we meet someone, so Draco and I are meeting everybody!" She paused to take a breath, and then added "I want another brother. Do you want to be my brother?"

Dudley just stared at her, not quite understanding. Then her question clicked into place in his brain and he nodded.

"I would like that, I think." He said slowly. Hermione beamed and grabbed his hand, dragging him off his bed and toward her parents. Dudley stumbled, but managed to stay on his feet.

"Mummy! Daddy! Meet Dudley! He is –" she broke off, realizing she didn't know Dudley's age. "How old are you?" she asked him.

"Almost one and a half." He said quietly, shyer now that he was in front of adults.

"He is almost one and a half, like Draco! Can he be my new brother? He said he wants to be." Her eyes were full of excitement, and she was nearly bouncing up and down. Her father got down on his knees so that he was nearer to Dudley's height, though he was still taller.

"Hello, Dudley," He said kindly.

"Hello, Mister," Dudley answered shyly.

"My Hermione seems to have taken a liking to you, and she has very good taste. I'll let you in on a secret, though." He lowered his voice to a stage whisper. "She's quite a bossy little girl. Do you think you could handle her?"

Dudley nodded, glancing at Hermione as she let out an indignant "Hey! I am _not_ bossy!"

Her father grinned at her before turning back to Dudley.

"So how would you like to be a part of the family, Dudley?"

"I would like that very much, sir!"

Dudley could hardly believe what was happening. His wish had come true! He was getting a new family!


	4. Pickup

A/N: Please note that, as I have never been in the child-services system, much less the English child-services system, I will probably get details of the system wrong. So don't take anything I say about orphanages or adoptions as fact.

Also, as has been pointed out to me, one to two year old children do not actually talk like this. While I understand this, the children will be able to speak in order to actually have a decent story. Please forgive my twisting of age-appropriate development status. It isn't like I'm making them do back flips.

I'm really sorry this took so long for me to get up, but I've been really distracted with schoolwork, and my Grandfather just passed so I haven't really been in a writing mood. Plus this chapter just didn't want to write itself like the others have. Grrr. Hope you enjoy it, though.

Disclaimer: I am not, nor shall I ever be, JK Rowling. As such I own none of the characters that you recognize or the settings that you recognize.

Dudley had to stay at the orphanage for one more night so that the paperwork could go through. Before the Grangers left, Hermione gave him a big hug. Draco just waved, but he had warmed up to Dudley over the few hours the adults had spent signing paperwork. Draco had spoken a bit, but Hermione did most of the talking. She talked about how she would be getting her own room so that Dudley and Draco could room together, and how they would be starting preschool next year, and how she was so very excited to be getting a new sibling, among other things.  
But they had eventually gone home — _My new home_, Dudley thought with a thrill — and Dudley had gone back to his little corner of the orphanage. It had taken him some time to fall asleep because he couldn't calm his thoughts, but he had eventually slipped into the land of dreams.

The next morning the Grangers came to collect him. Hermione immediately ran over to Dudley and hugged him, already jabbering.

"Hi, Dudley! We are going to bring you home today! At least, that's what Mummy says. Oooh, I cannot wait to show you my room! And yours and Draco's room! And the kitchen, and the living room, and the dining room, and the basement, and…" she paused and looked up, thinking. "And that's all the rooms, except for Mummy and Daddy's room, but they can show you that. And we can take you to the library! I can't read very well yet, but I can almost read. Mummy or Daddy always reads to us before bed, and we get to pick out the book! It's soooooo much fun!"

She stopped again, obviously expecting a response from Dudley. Dudley, however, was still trying to comprehend the first part of Hermione's jabber. Noticing she had stopped, he hurridly nodded in the hopes that that was the right thing to do. Apparently this satisfied Hermione, as she started to talk again.

Dudley looked over at Draco, confusion evident on his face. Draco gave him a small smile and tapped Hermione on the shoulder, which shut her up abruptly.

"Slower," Draco said simply, and the young girl blushed and nodded.

"Sorry. I talk fast when I'm excited. Anyway, let's go! I want to show you home."

She grabbed the boys' arms and started dragging them out. Mr. and Mrs. Granger, who had been finishing up talking with the orphanage matron, quickly said goodbye and followed them out.

The ride to the house was uneventful. Mrs. Granger ("Call me Mummy, if you want") explained the rules of the house to Dudley, with the others chiming in occasionally.

"No jumping on furniture, be nice to each other – "

"No hitting!" Hermione chirped.

"Yes, no hitting. You have to eat all of your dinner before you get dessert –"

"And listen to Nanny." This time it was Draco who interrupted.

"Very good Draco, that's an important rule. We always listen to Nanny. We always brush our teeth before bedtime, which is at seven thirty. No exceptions to bedtime."

"Or else you get a time-out the next day," Hermione said solemnly. To Hermione, time-outs were a big deal.

"Oh," Dudley said, "Ok." He understood all of what Mrs. Granger was saying; she was talking much more clearly than Hermione had been. He didn't like the idea of a time-out either.

"And you keep your side of the room clean," Draco added suddenly. "I clean my side, and you clean your side, and Hermione cleans her room. We always have to clean our messes up. That's what Nanny says."

"And hugs before Mummy and Daddy leave for work," Hermione said, remembering. "I think that's about it, right Mummy?"

"Just one more, Darling, can you remember what it is?"

"Ummmm…" she had her face screwed up in concentration, trying to remember. "Oh yeah!" she exclaimed suddenly. "Always talk nicely to each other."

"Very good, Princess." Mr. Granger praised. "And here we are!"

The car turned into a driveway and Dudley strained to get a look at the house through the high-up car window. What he saw reminded him faintly of his old home, but only in the size and shape. The front lawn had a few toys scattered across it, and the open garage door revealed more toys on either a shelf or the floor. Dudley's old home always had a spotless front lawn, and the garage was only ever used for the car and the push-bike Dudley's mum had pushed him around in. He had a feeling he would like this house.


	5. A New Home

Fun fact: this is the longest chapter yet! Please forgive me for taking forever; I have no decent explanation/excuse.

Disclaimer: I am not, nor shall I ever be, JK Rowling. As such I own none of the characters that you recognize or the settings that you recognize.

Hermione kicked her feet against the car seat, waiting to be unbuckled. She had almost figured out how the stupid buckle worked, but her muscles refused to work like she wanted them to. She glared at the buckle, impatient to get out so she could start showing Dudley the house, when suddenly the buckle popped open. She stared at it in surprise – to her knowledge, car seats didn't just come undone – then gave a mental shrug and clambered out of the seat, lowering herself to the car floor before jumping to the garage floor. She bounced on her toes while her dad unlocked the door, then grabbed Dudley's arm again to drag him into the kitchen.  
"This is the kitchen, and right through here is the living room, see? Mummy sometimes calls it the family room, too, so don't be confused if she says that. The dining room is on the other side of the entryway – that's just what the hall by the front door is called; we mostly enter through the garage, though. And upstairs is where the bedrooms are. Come on, Draco, let's show Dudley your room!" she called to Draco, who had been ghosting along behind them. He was being really quiet, she thought, ever since Mummy and Daddy mentioned adopting another child. Was that what 'abandonment issues' were?  
She had overheard her parents talking about those – whatever they were – in a conversation about her younger brother. She wasn't quite sure what the phrase meant, but she had asked Nanny what 'abandonment' meant, and Nanny said it was when somebody left something or someone, except a different part of speech (another thing she had Nanny explain) so it must have been something about Draco's old mummy and daddy.  
Hermione didn't know much about Draco's old parents, just what her parents had told them: Draco's old mummy and daddy had seen that Hermione's parents had wanted a darling little boy as well as their little princess, so Draco's old parents had given Draco to her parents, and 'wasn't that just so nice of them, because we love you both very, very much'. That had been her parents' response when Hermione had asked why Draco didn't look at all like the rest of them, prefaced with 'Draco had a different mummy and daddy, but…' and a whole lot of pro-nouns (another of the parts-of-speech Nanny had talked about).  
"Mione?" Draco called from the top of the stairs.  
She snapped out of her thoughts and hurried up the stairs. Dudley looked a little worried, but Draco just turned to go to his room.  
"Sorry," she said to Dudley, "I was thinking."  
"She can stand like that for ages if no-one says something," Draco added. "This is our room!"  
Hermione stood behind the boys in the doorway, looking at the space-themed room she used to sleep in.  
The base for the walls was a midnight-blue, so dark it was nearly black. In the upper right-hand corner of the far wall was the center of a silvery-white spiral galaxy that whirled out onto the far wall, right-side wall, and ceiling. Single stars, both faint specks of silver and giant balls of flaming gas, decorated the right side wall while the left hand wall featured, in addition to some stars, an asteroid belt and a planet with rings similar to Saturn's. The ceiling was likewise decorated with stars and planets both gaseous and solid. The beds, situated on opposite sides of the room on low-to the ground frames, were fitted with star-dotted blue sheets. Next to each bed was a bedside table that looked, at first glance, to be made of moon-rock, but was actually painted wood. In between the nightstands was a large toy chest of the same sort of material. The only thing that showed that the doorway wasn't a portal to outer-space was a window a few feet above the chest. Draco went into the room and sat on the left-hand bed, bouncing slightly.  
"Mione used to sleep in here, too, but then Mummy and Daddy said she would get her own room, so you get that bed."  
He pointed at the right-side bed and Dudley walked over to it, still staring wide-eyed at the room. Hermione walked in and sat on the toy chest, facing the doorway and the wall with the closet and wardrobe. The closet was on Dudley's side, while the wardrobe was on Draco's.  
"Some of our toys are in here," she said, patting the chest, "And some are in my room. We share all our toys, none are just mine and none are just Draco's, and none will be just yours. That's one of Nanny's rules. Right, Draco?"  
The pale boy nodded. "Right! Because… what was it that Nanny said again? You always remember better than I can, 'Mione."  
Hermione grinned. "She was 'Fed up with us little kids always fighting over who played with what toy, so now nobody gets to own anything!'" she said clearly, obviously quoting the words as they were spoken to her. "So every time we argued after that, she just took the toy away and nobody would get to play with it." Draco said, finishing the story.  
They sat in there for a few minutes, letting Dudley get adjusted to the room, until Hermione finally got bored and jumped up from her seat on the toy chest.  
"Let's go see my room now!"  
The boys got off their beds and followed her across the hall to the smaller bedroom.  
Hermione's room was vastly different from the dark interior of the boy's bedroom. The carpet was a rich brown, and the walls were painted to resemble a deciduous forest in the spring time. The trunks had ivy crawling up them, and bird's nests and squirrel's homes could be seen in hollows in the trees. The branches that made up the canopy of the forest were painted on the ceiling along with a few birds in flight. The wall-space near the ground was mostly clear except for trunks, but a small stream was painted on the right side wall and a buck was drinking from it along with a doe and a fawn. A few other forest critters – raccoons, skunks, frogs, a fox, and even a few snakes could be found if one looked closely enough.  
The bed, which was low to the ground like the boy's were, had a light wood frame and speckled green sheets. A small toy chest sat at the end of the bed and a nightstand was next to the obviously slept in side. Two five–shelf bookshelves, one with the bottom two shelves full and the other waiting for books, were situated to the right of the window. Hermione jumped on the bed and flung out her arms, relaxing.  
"Mummy's artsy friend painted it. It's not purple, but I like it. Oh!" she exclaimed, jumping up and running to the bookshelves, "Here's our stories! The empty shelves are for the stories I'll get when I'm older. I love stories."  
"Know who had the best stories?" Draco asked, then without waiting for an answer said, "Nanny. She has all these stories about witches and wizards and magic. And she talks about this magical place called Hogwarts! It's a castle, and it's a school for people with magic. They learn charms, and potions, and transfi- transfi-" he looked at Hermione, frustrated with the word.  
"Transfiguration," she supplied, and he nodded.  
"Yeah, that. And there's even a teacher who's a ghost! I asked her once if she went to Hogwarts, and she said she couldn't go 'cause she wasn't magical, but she'd heard tell of what it was like. I guess I believe her, 'cause she's never done anything magic and she doesn't have a wand – I looked though her bag a month or so ago while 'Mione distracted her – but I bet she knows some magic people. I wish I had magic." He sighed, and then looked up, excited again. "Maybe she'll tell more stories 'bout magic tomorrow!"  
"Maybe," Dudley replied, thoughtful. "I wonder if there are dragons!"  
"I bet there are," Hermione chimed in. "I mean, dragons are magical creatures. We can ask her tomorrow."  
"Can't we just ask your parents?" Dudley asked, and Hermione shook her head no.  
"Our parents, you mean. They're your mummy and daddy now too. But no, they don't take us seriously when we talk 'bout magic stuff like that. They don't really believe. Not like Nanny does. We can tell."  
"Alright." He didn't think his old mummy and daddy would have believed in magic either.


	6. Nanny's Nanny

Look, I got a chapter done relatively quickly! Aren't you proud? And it's a long one, too! Fun fact: all of the major events in this story are marked on a calendar of 1980, 1981, and 1991 (June, November, and July respectively) that I printed out as well as on my IPod! I also think/write about stuff that will (probably) never end up in the story, like what Narcissa was doing when she dropped off Draco and before that, random bits of accidental magic from the trio that I set up scenes for in my head but probably won't find a good place to insert in the actual story, and my thoughts about what the characters should act like and why (like Hermione's studying). I'm thinking of posting a backstory-dump at the very end of the story, would any of y'all want me to do that? Anyways, on with the story.

Disclaimer: I am not, nor shall I ever be, JK Rowling. As such I own none of the characters that you recognize or the settings that you recognize.

The rest of the day was fairly uneventful – Dudley settled in, Hermione prattled on about anything and everything to either her brothers or, when they tired of listening and Draco took Dudley to go look at toys, their parents. Draco and Dudley played with cars ("Even though we don't have our own toys, 'Mione never plays with these") until lunch, after which was naptime. Naptime until supper was playtime, and then a story was read by their mother before bedtime.

This was to become a normal routine for the three siblings over the next few weeks and, eventually, years. There were a few variations, of course: their nanny would watch them during weekdays, she or Mr. Granger would read them stories too, birthdays and holidays were all observed, and vacations (during the summer months) were taken. The trio (as they were known), started preschool and then kindergarten, and school was added into the routine. For the most part, they got along. Teachers often commented on how close they were and how they didn't argue nearly as much as other siblings did. Michael and Jean Granger counted themselves lucky and attributed it to the fact that the two boys were adopted – so perhaps Hermione thought of them more as very close friends. Nanny just smiled and kept watch over them, caring for them as her own and making sure mischief was at an acceptable level ("If you must play pranks and such, at least make them decent!") and never more than that.

The three changed a little through their childhood: Hermione quit talking quite so much, though she never really was as quiet as her brothers, Draco grew more mischievous but almost never got caught, and Dudley became the mediator for the two strong-willed personalities. When Draco and Hermione butt heads, Dudley calmed them down and diffused the situation before something exploded. Both of the brothers made Hermione spend at least some time away from her books – much to their parents' relief – even kidnapping her from her room and forcing her to "go outside and have fun adventuring" with them. She grumbled good-naturedly about, bar the times when she had to study for a test. At those times she would refuse, instead forcing the other two-thirds of the trio to study with her. She did excellently in school because of her neurotic studying (her eidetic memory helped as well), Draco did quite well, and Dudley did nearly as well as Draco because of all the studying. Hermione filled her bookshelves with novels and reference books (she received a set of encyclopedias for her fifth birthday and couldn't have been happier), and the boys filled the toy chest with various items until they eventually just played outside or on electronics, occasionally joining their sister in reading time.

Nine years, seven months, and twenty-one days later

Friday, July 5th, 1991. Evening.

"Nanny, can you tell us another story about the Twins?" Draco asked excitedly.

They were in the living room, waiting for their father to return home from work while their mother (who had come home before their father as no other patients needed attending to) cooked dinner and Nanny supervised them. Dudley perked up at the thought of a new story about the twins Fred and George who, if their nanny was to be trusted (and she usually was), were the worst troublemakers Hogwarts had seen in a long while. Even Hermione, who disapproved of rule breaking, was interested in the stories if only for the interesting magic. All three still believed the stories Nanny told them about the magical world – how else would they explain the odd things that sometimes happened around them – but none of them spoke a word about it to their parents, who were steadfast non-believers.

"Another story? Alright, then. They decided to play another prank at the end of the school year; they thought they wouldn't get in any trouble for it because it was the last day. They put a spell on the benches that –" she broke off as the door handle turned and the door opened, revealing Michael Granger.

"Dad!" the three children shouted in unison, running to great their father with a hug. He laughed and knelt so he could hug them back.

"And how have my three sprouts been today? I swear, you've grown again since this morning!"

He hugged each of the children and then stood again, this time calling into the house, "Honey, you never told me we were having a guest over for dinner!"

Jean walked into the hallway, brow crinkled in confusion. "A guest? We aren't having a guest. What on Earth are you…"

"Daddy, who is that?" Hermione asked the figure standing behind her father.

"Hello Miss Granger," the tall, stern-looking lady replied in a Scottish accent, "My name is –"

"Minerva McGonagall?" Nanny asked, finally entering the hallway. "What on earth are you – oh. Oh! OH!" she said in dawning realization as McGonagall said, at the same time, "Adya Greer? Is that you? Is this that family you work for? What a pleasant surprise!"

The two elder Grangers looked on in confusion while the three younger members of the family looked on with growing delight. Could this really be Minerva McGonagall? _The_ Minerva Mcgonagall? The one who taught at…

"Now wait just a minute!" Jean finally snapped. "Who on earth are you, why are you here, and how do you know Adya?"

The two ladies froze, shocked out of their excited greeting. Adya grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, Jean. This is Minerva McGonagall – she used to be my Nanny, when I was a young girl. She tutored my siblings for a bit as well, before they went off to boarding school. A boarding school where, incidentally, she teaches now. I assume that's what you're here about?" she asked, directing the question to the professor.

"Yes," Professor McGonagall replied, "It is. If I may come in…?" She said to the elder grangers.

"Oh, right!" Michael exclaimed, and moved out of the doorway. "Right, sorry, here... Kids, lead the way to the living room."

The trio ran down the hall to the living room, Dudley in front and Hermione trailing behind to ask, "Are you here because we can go to Hogwarts?"

Mcgonagall, who was following them, looked at the young girl in shock. "How do you know about Hogwarts?"

"Oh, Nanny tells us all about it. She has since we were little. She says those are the stories her parents and brothers would tell her, but she never got to go because she wasn't Magic. Are we Magic? My siblings and I, I mean. Of course, we must be, or else we wouldn't have Accidental Magic! That's what Nanny called it anyway, and she's nearly always right. And you wouldn't be here either, Professor. Nanny's told us all about you, and how you teach at Hogwarts, and about the letters you've written her with stories about the Twins and the other Professors and Peeves and Mr. Filch and Mrs. Norris and Mr. Hagrid and all the Gryffindors you look after and –"

"Hermione!" Draco interrupted. "Breathe! And slow down, nobody wants to listen to you jabber on for an hour."

"Guys, don't fight again today." Dudley said tiredly, interrupting what he was sure would be an angry outburst from Hermione. "You've already filled your 'bicker quota', or whatever you call it Draco, and you don't want to make a bad impression on a teacher, do you? But really, 'Mione, let the professor talk."

Professor McGonagall smiled at their interaction and whispered, "They're just like you described," to Nanny.

They settled down in the living room, McGonagall in a chair, Michael and Nanny on opposite ends of the couch (leaving a space for Jean when she finished in the kitchen), and the children on the floor.

"Now," Mcgonagall started, "As you may have gathered, my name is Professor Minerva McGonagall. I am a professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but from what I hear from young Miss Granger here, you already know all about Hogwarts. So!"

She was about to move on in her speech, but Michael interrupted her.

"I'm sorry, what? I have no idea what you're talking about. Hogwarts? And how do you know about this, Hermione?"

"Nanny told us about it."

All the gazes in the room turned to Adya, who shrugged in the uncaring manner of a student – _No matter how old one gets, McGonagall just makes you feel like a teenager again,_ she thought – and said "Neither you nor Jean would have believed a word I said about magic, and if the kids hadn't shown any signs of underage magic, I would have just told them it was only stories when they were little. As it was, I saw no problem with giving them a little knowledge about the magical world before they entered it as long as they never told any of their friends. And you haven't, right kids?"

Draco scoffed at the thought. "Of course not! If we'd breathed a word, they would've carted us off to the loony bin."

"Besides," Dudley added, "We tend to keep more to ourselves, anyway. Never did quite fit in at school, especially with the way 'Mione reads all the time."

"None of the other kids appreciate the beauty of a good –"

"—Novel, yes, we know, 'Mione." Draco sighed. "You don't have to tell us again. We don't mind your reading, but you know the other kids don't quite understand it."

"Their loss," Dudley added fiercely, trying to cheer the suddenly dejected Hermione up (she knew the kids at school didn't like her much, but she didn't like to think about it). "They're missing out on what a great person our 'Mione is!"

His sister smiled at him. "Thanks, Dud."

"Just telling the truth."

Draco nudged his sister, which got the attention of both his siblings, and jerked his head toward Professor McGonagall. "I think she wants to tell Dad about Hogwarts, but the adults are too busy watching us to talk." He stage whispered, drawing a chuckle from the watching adults. "Go on, Professor, we know about Hogwarts but I bet Mum and Dad want to be in the loop on this before you give us our letters."

"Letters?" Michael asked, suddenly confused again. "What letters?"

"Their acceptance letters to Hogwarts. All young witches and wizards in Britain get them the summer after or during which their eleventh birthdays take place."

"I'm sorry, but… magic? Witches and Wizards? Do you really expect us to believe all of this?"

"But dad, it's true, Nanny's been telling us for years –"

"And they both admitted to knowing each other, this could just be some sick idea of a joke –"

"A joke! Do you really believe that of me, Michael –"

"If you require proof I would be quite happy to provide some, Mr. Granger."

The professor's voice rung out over the increasing hubbub, silencing everyone in an instant.

"Proof? What kind of proof? Bending spoons, pulling a rabbit out of a hat, card tricks, or, or, or …"

He trailed off, his voice sputtering and eyes blinking rapidly as the professor turned into a tabby cat, stared at him calmly from eyes surrounded by markings that matched the spectacles she wore, and then turned back into her human form. The kids clapped, grinning widely, while Nanny just smiled and Michael stared on in disbelief.

"I'm afraid I don't have anything as interesting as a card trick, but I trust that was enough proof?" McGonagall asked, eyes gleaming with amusement.

"I – you – you—" he sputtered.

"Will we be learning how to do that, Professor?" Hermione asked eagerly.

"Animagus transfigurations are not part of the normal curriculum at Hogwarts, but if you are still interested after your fifth year and have the proper transfiguration grades, I suppose I could help train you for the transformation. If, of course, your parents let you attend and you wish to come."

Gazes transferred to Michael Granger and the children started a round of "Please, Dad, can we go?" and "Please please please please please we'll love you forever and ever and never complain about schoolwork," and other such pleads and promises that covered each other up so their pleas were hardly understandable.

"I – well – I suppose, if you really want to go, then –"

The rest of his sentence was covered by Hermione's happy squeal and the boys' shouts of joy as they practically jumped on their father to give him hugs. McGonagall chuckled and placed the three envelopes that contained the children's letters on the table.

"I'll be seeing these three September first, then. Their train tickets are in with their letters." She told Jean.

"Adya, if you could show them to Diagon Ally…?"

"Of course, Professor. I'd be glad to – I always loved Diagon Ally, and I've missed going there since I left home. It was lovely seeing you again – letters don't quite replace a nice face-to-face conversation, do they? Are you free any weekends before term, or will you be busy? I would love to have nice cup of tea, we could talk for a bit," Adya replied, standing up and starting to show McGonagall to the door.

"That would be lovely, dear, it has been such a long time since we've talked. How about the twentieth?"

"Yes, that sounds perfect. See you then!"

The front door closed and Nanny walked back to the living room. Jean jumped at the sound of the kitchen timer, breaking the stunned silence she had held since McGonagall had transformed and rushed to finish dinner. The children released their father and opened their letters, beginning to read them and look at the strange list of school supplies.

"Right then!" Nanny exclaimed, her voice sounding much too loud to the still-shocked adults' ears, "Why don't we just discuss this over dinner, hmm? Let the food for thought settle in with the food for the body."


	7. Diagon Alley

Sorry this one took so long. It didn't really want to be written; it was kicking and screaming and grabbing at every surface to keep from coming out. Plus I'm taking my first-ever AP course this year, so that takes up a bit of time that I could be writing. Yeah, school definitely takes up time. But this is a long chapter, so hopefully it was worth the wait. The next chapter might be a while; if you haven't noticed I'm a bit of a slow writer. But I'll try and write it fairly quickly. Anyways, I still don't own the Harry Potter universe in any way, so yeah! On with the story!

"Up! Wake up!" Hermione hit Draco in the face with pillow, cutting short any protests he might have made at being woken up. "We're going to Diagon Alley today!"  
Draco groaned, rubbing his eyes and sitting up. "We know, 'Mione. It's all you've been talking about since yesterday night."  
"Well, I'm excited!" she said defensively.  
"Yeah, I noticed. Why didja only hit me with the pillow? What did I do to you that Dudley didn't?"  
"She just loves me more, you know that." Dudley mumbled from his bed, where his face was still buried in his own pillow. Draco raised an eyebrow at Hermione, who grinned mischievously and raised a finger to her lips, re-gripping her pillow with her other hand. "Of course, Dudley, everybody knows that. Which is why you-should-get-up!" her last four words were punctuated with smacks of the pillow to Dudley's back, which then continued.  
"Gah! Quit it! I'm up, I'm up." he exclaimed while fending off the attack. "No need to keep — ack! — hitting me. What was that last one for?"  
"Oh, just because."  
"We've been a bad influence on you. I bet if we weren't around, you would be even more of a goody-two-shoes than you already are."  
"Probably. It's your own fault, though. If you two didn't drag me on adventures all the time…"  
"But you know you love our adventures," Draco cut in.  
"Sometimes. But anyway, I came in here to tell you that Nanny's here and Mum wants you to come have breakfast before we can all go to Diagon Alley. So get up!"  
With that, she spun on her heel and walked out the door.  
"Why is it that Mum always sends her to come get us up?" Dudley complained.  
"She trusts her, she's usually doing something else, and 'Mione never fails to wake us up quickly." Draco responded.  
"Why are you two always so rational? It's much too early to have reasonable explanations for everything."  
He fell back against the bed, closing his eyes again. Draco raised an eyebrow at him from over by the chest of drawers.  
"You really ought to get up, you know."  
"Why?" came the muffled response from the pillow.  
"Do you really want to be the reason our 'Mione has to wait any longer than necessary to get to a new place that almost certainly has a bookstore?"  
Dudley jumped out of bed and rushed to get ready for the day.

Hermione bounced in her seat impatiently, drumming her fingers on the kitchen table. She fixed her gaze on Dudley, who was eating his porridge slower than she would have liked. Draco was still eating too, but he was eating faster so she wasn't as upset with him.  
"Would any of you like more bacon?" their mother asked.  
"That'd be-" Draco started, but Hermione cut him off.  
"No, Mum, they're fine. They want to finish breakfast so we can go."  
"Hermione, let your brothers eat. The alley will still be there when they're done." Jean chided her with a smile.  
"But-"  
"Listen to Mum, 'Mione, let us eat," Dudley grumbled.  
"Chew with your mouth shut, Dudley, you know better than that." Nanny scolded, pushing his lower jaw up on her way to get the bacon. He swallowed and said "Yes, Nanny." Draco smirked and finished off his porridge, took his plate to the dishwasher, and sat back down. Hermione smiled at him, then refocused on Dudley, who started eating a bit faster.  
"Why are you so impatient, anyway?" Draco asked his sister, leaning back in his chair to wait.  
"You're joking, right?" Hermione asked incredulously. "Please tell me you're joking and wouldn't actually ask a question that obvious."  
Draco just raised an eyebrow at her and she heaved a sigh.  
"We are about to enter the magical world, Draco. A world we have heard about since we were toddlers. A world in which there are charms, transfigurations, potions, a whole new history to learn, new plants, new creatures… including dragons," she looked over at Dudley, who grinned. "There are even goblins in charge of the money! Goblins! They exist! And this is the first time we actually get to see it, to prove that it's actually real. Not that I don't believe you, Nanny, but…" she trailed off. Nanny smiled at her and patted her shoulder. "It's perfectly all right, dear, I know exactly what you mean. Now!" she clapped her hands once as she stood, looking around. "I daresay we should head to the car, shouldn't we?"  
While Hermione had been talking, Dudley had finally finished his porridge and cleared his plate.  
Hermione leaped up, grinning from ear to ear. "Yes! Finally!" she ran to the garage, grabbing her coat on the way out. Draco rose from his chair more slowly, chuckling softly at his sister's antics. Dudley grabbed his coat off the hanger near the door and followed Hermione to make sure she didn't break the car or something from bouncing in excitement.  
"You and Dudley don't seem nearly as excited. Why is that?" Nanny asked Draco curiously.  
"'Mione is just so excited that it's enough for all three of us. We need to be calm to temper her insanity. If we all showed our excitement like her, it would drive Mum and Dad mad. Maybe you too, but you might just duct tape us to the wall before that happened. So 'Mione is excited, and Dudley and I are calm." He shrugged and went after his siblings to get in the car.  
"Those kids. Just when you think you know them, one of them says something like that."

"Here we are." Nanny said, pointing out a small, dirty-looking pub in between a record store and a large book store. Hermione immediately turned to go into the bookstore, but Dudley and Draco each linked an arm with her and steered her towards the pub. Hermione blushed when she realized what had happened — she had walked toward the bookstore out of instinct more than conscious decision — while everyone else had a bit of a laugh at her expense. Nanny led them in, the trio in right behind her while the elder Grangers brought up the rear.  
"Tom!" she waved to the barkeep, maneuvering through the crowds that filled the Leaky Cauldron.  
The barkeep's brow furrowed, obviously confused. He didn't seem to recognize Nanny, though she obviously recognized him.  
"I'm sorry, I don't seem to recall meeting you before, Mrs.…?"  
"Greer, and I'm afraid I'm still a Miss. These lovely children belong to the couple behind me, though I love them to death. I'm not surprised you don't remember me, it's been years since I've been in here."  
"Greer, Greer… Miss Adya Greer? Now what are you doing hereabouts? I thought you stopped coming round these circles once the war was getting bad. Not that I'm not happy to see you, but…" he trailed off, the question hanging in the air.  
"I'm afraid I fell out of the habit of coming 'round, and with these three rascals to watch I just never got back into it." she glance back at the trio, her smile slipping into a smirk for a second as she thought about the kids — most of the time, they were really quite well behaved, they pretty much monitored themselves — and then reverted to a smile again.  
"They're actually the reason I'm here; these guys are off to Hogwarts this year. I'm afraid I haven't manifested the ability to use magic since I last came here so I can't open the archway. Could you open it for me, please?"  
"Of course! You'll have to stop by again sometime soon. I'll introduce you to everyone next time."  
They had reached a door by this time, and everybody filed out into a small area enclosed by a wall. There was a trash can next to one of the walls and nothing else. Tom walked over to the trashcan, drew out his wand, and moved it up a column and over to the right, mouthing numbers rather than speaking them aloud. He tapped a single brick and stepped back as the bricks began to shift and turn, revealing an alleyway. Tom grinned at the group, of whom all but Adya were staring in awe.  
"Welcome to Diagon Alley."

Hermione stared out at the bustling street, suddenly frozen instead of bouncing like she was before. It was so surreal- like she had gone back in time to before she was born, except not really. Most people were wearing robes, though most of the children were wearing more normal (_Or, well, muggle-style_, thought Hermione) clothing. She could see witch's hats, both on people's heads and for sale. There were people with booths outside the shops, hawking sales or making a transaction. People were drawing coins out of sacks instead of wallets, and they were different coins than the pence that Hermione was used to.  
Nanny was walking again, but Dudley had to grab Hermione's arm before she could walk. Her head swiveled from left to right and back again as she tried to take in everything. All of the sensory input coupled with her excitement threatened to short out her brain.  
Dudley was less in shock than Hermione; his brain ignored all the things he dubbed 'less important' so he didn't overload with information, while Hermione's took in everything at once. They had this problem every time they went someplace new: Hermione would often stop and just stare at everything while her brain sorted all the new information. Her brothers had taken it upon themselves to 'kick-start her brain' whenever this happened by making her start to walk again.  
Draco, meanwhile, was feeling strangely at home in this new environment. He felt the magic in the air settle on him like a warm blanket, welcoming him to the magical world. A grin spread across his face and he quickly followed after Nanny, linking an arm with Hermione so they would all keep together in the crowd.  
"Where are we going first, Nanny?" he called, raising his voice a bit to be heard over the happy hubbub of the alleyway.  
"Gringotts!" she called back, over her shoulder.  
"With the goblins?" Dudley asked excitedly.  
"Yes, Dudley. Be careful not to insult them, all of you; they are a proud people who already have a grudge against most wizard-kind."  
"Yes, Nanny." the trio chorused, smiling wider as they did.  
"Where is it?"  
Nanny pointed ahead of them, to where a tall, crooked, white building seemed to loom over them.  
"Straight ahead."

The money transaction went smoothly and they all trooped out of the bank.  
"Where to next?"

"Madam Malkins, I suppose, for your robes. Then to Pottage's for cauldrons, and the Apothecary for your potions kits. Usually wand-shopping is left for last, but we should probably save Flourish and Blotts until the end. Otherwise we'll never get to Ollivander's."

"What's Flourish and Blotts?" Hermione asked.

"That's the bookstore, I bet. Right Nanny?" Draco guessed, looking to the squib for conformation.

"Yes, it is. But we won't be heading there until later. The schoolbooks will be too heavy to carry around for the entire shopping trip, even without the extras our Hermione is sure to get."

Hermione blushed but didn't protest; she knew she was going to buy as many books as she was allowed. They all headed to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, which seemed to be empty at the time. The trio's robe fitting was fairly uneventful, with only a few needle-pricking incidents. None of them particularly enjoyed clothes shopping, so they were all happy to leave the store.

Draco in particular enjoyed the apothecary, Dudley thought it was alright, but Hermione was a bit squeamish when she saw the various types of bile and eyes on display. The smell of all the ingredients together, they agreed, was completely horrible. They put all of their purchases into their cauldrons before going to Ollivander's wand store.

Ollivander's was distinctly different from all of the other shops; the first thing Hermione thought of when she walked in was a library. The store was quiet and peaceful in a way that said 'if you have to talk, whisper.' Even the smell was sort of like an old library, although it wasn't quite the same as the smell of books. She noticed a layer of dust over almost everything, but when she went to run her finger through it the dust stayed put.

A sudden noise made her jump, and when she looked up an old man with very pale, wide eyes stared down at the three siblings.

"Hello," said the old man, "You're here about a wand. Three of them, yes."

He climbed down from the ladder he had slid over on and got out three measuring tapes, setting each of them to work on Draco, Dudley, and Hermione. He rushed off into the tall stacks of wands before any of them could say anything, leaving them staring into the stacks and occasionally at each other. He was back before long, holding three wand boxes in his hands. He handed one to each of them, and when they just stood there he said, "Well? Try them out, then."

Hermione was the first to open her box, which contained a thin stick of wood. She had barely given it a wave before the man (Mr. Ollivander, she assumed, though he had never actually introduced himself) snatched it from her hand. He did the same with the wands Dudley and Draco tried, though Hermione couldn't tell what was wrong with them.

Hermione understood why he had taken them away once she finally 'found' her wand. She was the first of the three to receive her wand, and Mr. Ollivander had seemed particularly happy when he saw the box vibrating slightly before he handed it to her.

"Ah, yes, vinewood with a phoenix feather core. Ten and three-quarter inches long, fairly rigid. I wondered when this wand would finally choose."

He left to fetch more wands for the boys before she could even start to voice her question of 'What?', but she decided she would get a book on wands later and went to show her wand to her parents and Nanny. Dudley's wand chose him shortly after Hermione's, and his was a chestnut wood with dragon heartstring at its core, ten and one-quarter inches long and slightly yielding. Draco took the longest of the three, but Mr. Ollivander seemed to only become happier as the search went on. He received a wand of hawthorn and unicorn tail hair, ten and a half inches long and reasonably springy. Mr. Ollivander noted that he "thought that his wand would be interesting, and wasn't disappointed," and merely hummed thoughtfully when Dudley had received his. With a swish of Mr. Ollivander's own wand, the discarded wands went back to their places and he walked back into the depths of the store.

When they finally made it to Flourish and Blotts, Hermione instantly disappeared into the rows of bookshelves.

"That's our 'Mione," Dudley chuckled, and Draco agreed with a nod.

"So what section do you reckon school books are in?"

Draco pointed at the tables running down the center of the store labeled 'Hogwarts Booklist' with the various years, from first years (in the front) to seventh (all the way in the back). Dudley grinned sheepishly and walked forward to start collecting his books. The two of them were just grabbing an extra set for Hermione when they heard a large, rather noisy family walk in.

"Fred, George, go get your school books. You too, Ron and Harry. Percy… where did Percy go? Ah well, he knows what to do. Ginny, stick with me, alright? And no troublemaking, any of you."

Noises of assent came from five voices, and then two boys about Draco and Dudley's age came over to the table. One had red hair, freckles, and was rather gangly. The other had messy black hair, glasses over bright green eyes, and a thin face. Dudley felt a spark of recognition at seeing the black-haired boy, but didn't really know why; he couldn't remember seeing him ever before. He dismissed the feeling and introduced himself.

"Hi, I'm Dudley, and this is my brother, Draco. Are you first years at Hogwarts, too?"

"Yeah." The ginger replied. "I'm Ron Weasley, and this is my almost-twin brother, Harry Potter-Weasley."

"You have two last names?" Draco asked Harry.

"Well, Weasley isn't officially part of my last name, but I'm just as much a Weasley as I am a Potter. They adopted me."

"Oh. That's cool." Draco said, and for a moment all of them were quiet.

"We're both adopted too." Dudley said, trying to break the awkwardness. "We have a sister, too, but she vanished the second we stepped foot in here."

"Oh, is she one of those types?" Ron asked, and the Granger boys frowned.

"She likes to read, if that's what you mean. There's nothing wrong with it."

"Oh, of course not," Harry said blithely. "Ron didn't mean it rudely."

"Yeah, of course not! One of our brothers likes to read a ton as well. Perfectly normal." Ron backtracked.

"One of them? How many brothers do you have?" Dudley winced as Draco nudged him with his elbow, hard. "I mean, if that's not too nosey of me."

"There's eight of us total. Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred and George, Me and Harry, and little Ginny. Ginny's the only girl."

"Must stink for her."

"Nah, she can take care of herself against us. Mischievous little she-demon, that one. And she gets away with everything."

"Wow. Doesn't sound very nice."

"Oh, she's nice enough, unless she's pranking. But she's our little sis, you know? We've got to say she's annoying."

"Kinda. 'Mione is older than us, maybe that's why she doesn't bother us as much."

"Maybe."

They lapsed into silence again, having gathered all of their books and now just standing around with nothing to talk about. Hermione appeared from the shelves about then, so the boys quickly said goodbye and headed to either the checkout counter or to find family.

"Did you get my schoolbooks? Thanks. Look at what I found! Books on wizarding culture, and _Hogwarts, A History,_ and _An Appraisal of Magical Education in Europe,_ and oh – I got this one for you guys."

She slipped a book titled _Quidditch Through the Ages_ off of the top of her pile and handed it to Draco to hold.

"Who were those boys you were talking to?"

"Oh, that was Harry and Ron. They're gonna be first years, too…"

They continued their conversation on their way to the checkout counter and out of the store, moving on to various topics after exhausting the topic of other students.


	8. The Journey to Hogwarts

Hello everybody! This chapter came so much easier than the last chapter, and I'm definitely more pleased with it. My co-author came over and we had another planning meeting (yay!), so now I have even more backstory information and a plan for what's going to happen. Which is good, because I was starting to feel a little lost. Fun fact of the chapter: Saturn's moon Iapetus has one hemisphere covered with material darker than black velvet, while the other side is covered with material brighter than snow. Also, the word defenestration is really cool. As is lambent. So, chapter seven!

Sunday, September 1st, 1991  
Morning

Hermione woke up and stretched as she sat up in bed. _September first! Finally, I get to go to Hogwarts!,_ she thought to herself. She looked over at the clock to check the time, which read – _no, that can't possibly be right!_ She jumped out of bed and rushed to get dressed. The clock said it was eleven twenty-five! She rushed out of her room and down to the kitchen, where her entire family sat calmly eating breakfast. She stared at them in shock for a moment before her voice started working.  
"Mum! Dad! Why didn't you wake me up? The train leaves at eleven o'clock exactly, we've missed it! How are we supposed to get to Hogwarts now?"  
Her parents looked at her a bit strangely, then her mother glanced back at the kitchen clock and back to Hermione.  
"Hermione, what are you going on about? It's only eight in the morning. We don't have to leave for ages; the train station is only about twenty minutes away. Did you brush your teeth before coming down, dear?"  
Hermione frowned. "Well, no, but it's not eight AM. It's eleven twenty-five, my clock…"  
She looked at the kitchen clock, which said that it was indeed only around eight in the morning.  
"Draco, Dudley…" she practically growled at them, realizing what had happened. They looked back at her innocently.  
"What, 'Mione? We didn't do anything."  
"You switched my clock! Nearly gave me a heart attack when I woke up. How could you do something like this today! On perhaps the most important day this year!"  
"Bit of an exaggeration, don't you think?" Dudley asked. "It's just the start of school, after all."  
"Yeah, Dud, but this is 'Mione we're talking about. First day of school is the most important day to her." Draco replied, grinning.  
"It is not! But this year is different, this is our first day of Hogwarts! We get to learn magic!"  
"Well yeah, sure, that's cool and all. But it's still just school."  
"I- You- UGH!" she stammered, finally just turning and storming back up the stairs to get ready properly.  
Draco and Dudley grinned and high fived each other.  
"That's what she gets for waking us up by hitting us with pillows."

~G~

Hermione leaped out of the car and raced to get trolleys for the three of them. When she came back, the boys stacked their trunks onto the trolleys and the six of them – the three children, their parents, and Nanny – headed to the main station. Hermione was bouncing up and down in excitement, so the two boys were forced to keep telling her not to go too fast.  
"We've got plenty of time, 'Mione! There's a full half-hour before the train leaves. You don't have to run," Draco told her for about the fifth time in as many minutes.  
"Right, sorry. I'm just excited."  
"We know, 'Mione." Dudley said, shaking his head slightly.  
They finally made it to platforms nine and ten a few minutes later and it was then that Hermione hesitated.  
"Do we really have to – you know – run at the wall?"  
"Yes dear, that's how you cross the barrier." Nanny replied.  
"But it looks so solid! What if we run into it?"  
"Oh, for goodness sake, 'Mione!" Draco rolled his eyes at her and ran at the brick wall, pushing his trolley in front of him. He disappeared through the wall and Hermione let out a breath before following him, finally reassured. She closed her eyes just before contact, and then opened them after she felt a curtain of air brush over her. When she did, she immediately stopped in her tracks, ignoring the tug on her arms as her trolley jerked to a stop. There was so much going on in the station that her mind just dropped everything else and stared. There were parents saying goodbye to their kids, students greeting friends after long summers of being apart, people loading trunks into the train, younger siblings running around, and general chaos. And permeating the entire station was the thick feeling of magic in the air.  
"Oh, shoot- 'Mione, move!" Draco called, noticing that she had stopped just as Dudley came running through the barrier. Her tugged on her arm, barely preventing a crash between Dudley and the still-frozen Hermione.  
"That was a close one." Draco said, letting out a relieved sigh. Dudley got out of the way of any more incoming people, looking apologetic.  
"Sorry, 'Mione, didn't mean to almost run you over. Thanks for getting her out of the way, Draco."  
Hermione nodded distractedly, then came out of her trance.  
"What? Oh, right, sorry. I should have gotten out of the way faster, it's just-"  
"We know. Don't worry about it."  
"Alright, then. We should get our stuff on the train…"  
"You have to say goodbye first. So eager to leave us behind?" Her father asked, feigning hurt.  
"Sorry Dad. Of course we're going to say goodbye."  
The three gave all of the adults hugs, and when they had said proper goodbyes Jean Granger started to cry. Nanny was also wiping tears from her face. Draco looked slightly alarmed at the tears, but Dudley seemed to have expected it and Hermione was holding back tears of her own.  
"Mum – Nanny – we're just leaving for school. We'll be home for Christmas holidays. You'll hardly miss us, I bet!"  
Jean smiled a bit through her tears. "I know, dear, but this is the longest you've ever been away. I'll miss you all. I think a mother is allowed to cry a bit when she sees her babies going off to a faraway place."  
Draco looked like he was about to protest at the term 'babies', but Hermione elbowed him in the side. Dudley hugged his mother again, and she gripped him tightly.  
"It's alright, Mum. We'll write you a lot. And you'll have so much time to yourself that you can start up a new hobby or something."  
"I guess." She released him from the hug, a watery smile on her face. "Now get, you three, before I decide to take you all home because I don't want you to be away for so long."  
"Alright. Bye Mum, Dad, Nanny!" Hermione called as they headed to the train to find a compartment.

~G~

They had just settled into a compartment when a round-faced boy clutching a toad knocked on the doorframe quietly and poked his head in.  
"May I sit in here?" He asked, seeming rather shy. Dudley smiled and waved him in while Draco looked the boy over with a slightly analytical eye and Hermione barely glanced up from the book she was reading.  
"Yeah, sure," Dudley told him. "My name is Dudley Granger, the pale blond kid is my brother Draco, and the bookworm is Hermione – our sister. What's your name?"  
"Neville Longbottom. You're triplets?"  
"No, not really. Almost, but 'Mione is, what, eight or nine months older than us?" He looked to his siblings for confirmation.  
"Eight for me, nine for you. Give or take a few days," replied Draco.  
Neville was beginning to look confused – how could there be siblings about a month apart? – and Hermione snapped her book shut with a sigh.  
"Honestly, you two, can't you ever just explain things simply? Those two dunces are adopted, we're not at related biologically at all. Well, not that we know anyway, there could be some distant relation, but –"  
"But unless we stop this tangent now you'll keep on it for the entire ride."  
Hermione glared at Draco. "I'm still cross at you – the both of you – for this morning."  
"We said sorry, 'Mione!"  
"No, you didn't! Not once during the entire time between breakfast and now did you apologize."  
"Really? I thought we did…" interjected Dudley, brow furrowed.  
"I would remember if you had." Hermione pointed out, and Dudley nodded.  
"True…"  
Hermione glanced over at Neville, who was still standing rather awkwardly by the door, finally remembering his presence.  
"Oh, sorry Neville, you can sit down. Let me just clear these books off the seat…"  
She moved a pile of books she had stacked on the seat next to her onto the floor, handing a couple of them to her brothers to hold while she piled the others so that they wouldn't fall. She had a few of her school books in the pile, but she was reading some of the extra texts she had gotten for the train ride (she had already memorized the school books). Her entire family, including Nanny, had told her that she should have packed more of the books in her trunk as she wouldn't need them all on the train ride, but she would rather have extra books than too few. _Besides,_ she thought, _what if somebody wanted to borrow a book, or needed to look something up?_ No, it was much better to have a whole pile of books.  
"So Neville, where are you from?" she asked, settling back into her seat. The book she had been reading before sat closed in her lap.  
"Near Blackpool, kind of. More out in the middle of nowhere, really."  
"Wow, that's a ways away. We're just out of London, in Hampstead."  
"Oh." Neville was silent for a minute, unsure of what to say until he decided on "What house do you think you'll be in?"  
"Oh, I don't know. Each has its own pros and cons…" the conversation continued, gradually becoming less awkward as time went on and they learned more about each other. Hermione was particularly interested in the way Neville grew up – "So you've seen magic your whole life? How exciting!" – but he seemed to want to talk about the trio's upbringing more. She eventually took the hint and stopped asking questions about his family; instead she took delight in explaining all manner of muggle devices. She finally forgave her brothers about an hour into the ride, when they finally apologized. When the food trolley came around they all bought some sweets – though the Grangers all had low-sugar candy as they had promised their parents – and continued talking.  
It was only a few minutes after they had started eating when Neville noticed that Trevor – his toad – had gone missing.  
"Oh no," he groaned, "I can't have lost him already! Gran'll be so upset with me. Trevor was a gift!"  
Hermione put down her tooth-flossing stringmints and brushed crumbs off her lap before standing.  
"Well then, we ought to search the train! Come on Neville, we'll all help."  
"Really?" He looked up at her, surprised at her generosity. Draco and Dudley groaned; they didn't have any desire to go search a train for a lost toad, but now that Hermione had volunteered them they had to at least pretend.  
"Of course! Come on, he can't have gone far." She opened the door to the compartment and looked back.  
"Come on Dudley, Draco, aren't you going to help?"  
"Yeah, I guess," said Dudley, obviously reluctant.  
"Here, we'll go right, you go left. We'll cover more ground that way," Draco suggested.  
"Perfect! Come on Neville, I bet we'll find him straight away."  
And so the four split ways, Neville trailing after the confident Hermione and Dudley wondering why on Earth Draco seemed so open to wandering the train in search of a toad.

~G~

"Have either of you seen a toad?" Hermione asked the boys in the compartment she had just opened. "Neville's lost his."  
"No, we haven't, sorry." Responded a black-haired, bespectacled boy.  
"Only frogs we've got are chocolate ones," the red-haired boy added, holding up an empty chocolate frog container.  
"No, frogs and toads aren't at all the same thing. Toads live in drier climates, and they have rougher skin. Frogs have slimy skin and like moister environments. Well, for the most part at least. Some toads have slimy skin, and there are warty frogs, but they are in different families in the taxonomical classification."  
The two boys who were occupying the compartment gave her blank looks and she sighed.  
"Look, if you see a toad, will you catch it and get a message to me somehow? My name is Hermione Granger."  
"Granger?" the black-haired boy asked. "Hey, Ron, isn't that the name of those boys we met in the bookstore?"  
"Oh yeah! Hey, do you know Draco and Dudley?"  
"Yes, they're my brothers. And you are…?"  
"Ron Weasley and Harry Potter-Weasley."  
"Oh. I remember them mentioning you. From Flourish and Blotts. I was off getting some books, so I didn't get the chance to introduce myself." She reached out a hand to shake with each of the boys. When Harry shook her hand, his bangs fell back to reveal a lightning-bolt scar on his forehead and Hermione inhaled sharply.  
"Wait, Harry Potter? That's where I recognized your name! You defeated You-know-who!"  
Harry let out a groan and brushed his bangs over his forehead again.  
"It's Potter-Weasley, and please don't do that. I really didn't do anything special."  
"Didn't do –" she started, "You defeated the darkest wizard know to man in decades! You call that nothing special?"  
Harry looked over to Ron for help and the ginger took over.  
"Look, we don't really talk about it in our family, ok? Sure, You-know-who died, but he wasn't the only one. It's a bit of a touchy subject. I'm sure you get it."  
Hermione let out a small gasp, realizing the faux pas she had made.  
"Oh my gosh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize… everything I've heard tends to gloss over that bit. I'm sorry."  
Harry wrinkled his nose. "People do tend to forget. We'll tell you if we see a toad, alright?"  
"All – Alright." Hermione said. "I really am sorry." She repeated before exiting the cabin and catching up with Neville to continue the search.

~G~

Meanwhile…  
"You don't actually plan on looking for a toad, do you?" Dudley asked.  
"Of course not. But we might as well go meet some other kids who will be in our year. It'll be more interesting than sitting in that room for hours."  
"I guess."  
They set off in the opposite direction that Hermione and Neville had gone, hoping to find someone who looked as young as they did. It hadn't been five minutes before –  
"Look, I don't know how that dungbomb got into your stuff, I swear! I thought mine were all packed away, I didn't put it in your bag, please don't hurt me, I-"  
A boy a little bit shorter than Draco with strawberry-blond hair was backing out of a compartment filled with irate older boys quite a bit bigger than him. He backed into Dudley and looked back, startled.  
"Hi," he said as he slipped between the two Grangers and hid behind Dudley, "You might want to follow me; those guys aren't exactly happy with – RUN!"  
He took off down the corridor and the brothers ran after him, not wanting to get stuck between the irate older boys and the scrawny kid who had apparently upset them. When the kid ducked into a compartment, they followed him in and shut the door tight. The current occupants, a dark-skinned boy and a scruffy looking kid with singed eyebrows, looked very startled.  
"Sorry," the strawberry-blond said, "The guys I was sitting with before got a wee bit mad when one of my dungbombs went off. My name is Oliver Rivers, by the way."  
"I'm Dean Thomas," the dark boy introduced himself, "And this is my friend Seamus Finnegan. And you two are…" he looked over at Dudley and Draco.  
"Draco and Dudley Granger. Sorry for the intrusion, but we didn't want to get trampled because of whatever Oliver did."  
"Oh, no problem. We were about to get up and see if we could find more first years, but I guess we don't have to now. Have a seat."  
The three boys sat and started chatting about anything and everything. The Granger boys shared what it was like growing up as adopted muggles, Seamus talked about life in Ireland, Dean told them about his half-siblings and step-father, and Oliver spoke of living right near France. The Grangers shared a half-smile when Oliver went on about the bookstore his father owned, recognizing the hidden bibliophilism. Dudley also noted the particular gleam the boy got in his eye when he spoke of pranks and trickery. Draco shared the prank they had played on Hermione earlier that day, causing perhaps a bit more laughter than strictly appropriate – they had all reached a sugar high on candy by that point.  
It wasn't until they were maybe a half hour from Hogwarts that they again saw Hermione. She poked her head into the cabin and opened her mouth to ask whether anybody had seen a toad when she noticed her siblings staring at her with a slightly guilty look.  
"So I take it you didn't check your half of the train then?" She asked, eyebrows raised.  
"Well, um… about that… Hey, any of you lot seen a toad?" Dudley sputtered. Hermione rolled her eyes, letting out an exasperated sigh.  
"Don't even bother. You might as well get changed into your uniforms, we're almost there. And if you do see a toad, catch it, alright?" She shut the door and continued down the train corridor.  
Silence reigned in the cabin until Oliver finally broke it with, "So that's your sister, then? Seems a bit… uptight."  
"Yeah, that's 'Mione. She is a bit uptight, but she's especially on edge because it's the first day of school. And she hasn't had us around to keep her good humor up, and I think she's still irritated with us, plus she's been up and down this train looking for a toad for the past… what, four hours? Wow, I didn't realize how much time had passed!"  
The other boys still looked skeptical of the continued backing up of Hermione's character, but dropped the subject. They all changed into their uniforms and slid their casual clothes into their trunks, along with anything they didn't want to carry on their person all the way to the castle. Dudley could have sworn he saw Oliver slip a dungbomb or two into his pocket. They all had to hold onto something when the train finally slowed and jerked to a stop, but all of them managed to keep their balance. The window gave them a view of a perfectly ordinary train station, except there seemed to be a very large, hairy man-giant wading through the sea of students with a lantern in hand.  
Leaving their luggage on the train as instructed by the disembodied voice, they all disembarked. The large man was calling for all the 'Firs' years', so the group of five made their way over. Hermione caught up with them and latched onto her brother's hands, looking incredibly excited and dreadfully nervous all at once. Dudley put his spare hand on her shoulder, and Draco gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. She looked at them both with a grateful but still nervous smile, and they all followed the giant-man down to the lake where a fleet of boats was waiting for them.


	9. The Sorting

Draco climbed into the boat first, trying to keep steady while not letting go of Hermione's hand – he knew she needed the contact. They all managed to keep their balance. Hermione finally let go of Draco's hand when she sat next to Dudley, instead latching onto her youngest brother's arm with both hands. Oliver also sat in their boat, completing the quota so that they could launch off with a wave of Hagrid's (as the man had introduced himself) umbrella.

"How odd," Hermione said to the others, "He doesn't seem to have a wand. I wonder why that is?"

Her comment was ignored, however, as they had just caught sight of Hogwarts. The castle sat up on a cliff and, to the trio, looked as magical a place as any they had ever seen. The windows sparkled in the starlight, and a few lights – presumably from torches – could be seen in the windows. The castle moved out of view as they drew closer to the cliff and floated into a cave through a curtain of ivy. All the kids dutifully ducked their heads at Hagrid's order and they drifted through the cavernous tunnel until the boats ran aground in an underground harbor. After a quick trip up a passageway, in which Trevor the toad was found, and a flight of stone steps, Hagrid knocked on a huge wooden door three times.

The door was immediately opened by Professor McGonagall, who took them inside to a small room near what had to be the Great Hall – Hermione had read about it in _Hogwarts, A History_, and she was sure that's why there was so much noise coming from a single room. Professor McGonagall gave a short speech telling them about the house system before leaving them to wait for the sorting ceremony. Hermione was a little bit worried about the sort of test she might be given for the sorting, but she was more worried that she wouldn't be in the same house as her brothers.

"What if we aren't in the same house?" She asked, voicing her concerns in a soft whisper.

"Who cares?" Asked Dudley in return, "We don't have to be in the same house to still talk to each other. Regardless of house, we're still family. Right?"

"Right," replied Hermione, and Draco nodded.

"Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance –" came a voice out of nowhere, and several students – including Hermione – screamed in surprise. A crowd of pearly white figures had just floated into the room.

"My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really even a ghost – I say, what are you all doing here?"

Too shocked to reply to the ghost, nobody said a word.

"New students! About to be Sorted, I suppose?"

Again, nobody said anything, but a few students nodded.

"Hope to see you in Hufflepuff! My old house, you know."

At that point Professor McGonagall reentered the room and led them all into the Great Hall. Hermione's mouth fell open in awe at the sight that greeted her: thousands of candles floated over the four long tables where the older students were seated, the tables were set with golden plates and goblets, wall hangings depicted beautiful crests for each of the four houses and Hogwarts, and giant winged boars made of stone jutted out from the walls. Most amazing of all however, was the ceiling: it looked exactly like the night sky from outside. Hermione could recognize constellations, and the quarter-moon was visible.

"Wow," Dudley whispered.

"Rowena Ravenclaw enchanted it herself," she whispered to her brothers, still staring at the sky. "It's the same as the sky outside. I read about it in _Hogwarts, A History._"

While the other two were staring at the ceiling, Draco's gaze was focused on a ratty-looking hat that the Professor had placed on a stool. It was old, frayed, and dirty, more so than any other hat Draco had ever seen. A hush fell over the crowd as everybody looked at the hat, which suddenly moved and began to sing:

_ "Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,_

_ But don't judge on what you see,_

_ I'll eat myself if you can find_

_ A smarter hat than me._

_ You can keep your bowlers black,_

_ Your top hats sleek and tall,_

_ For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat_

_ And I can cap them all._

_ There's nothing hidden in your head_

_ The sorting Hat can't see,_

_ So try me on and I will tell you_

_ Where you ought to be._

_You might belong in__Gryffindor,__  
Where dwell the brave at heart,__  
Their daring, nerve, and chivalry__  
Set__Gryffindors apart;__  
You might belong in__Hufflepuff,__  
Where they are just and loyal,__  
Those patient__Hufflepuffs are true__  
And unafraid of toil;__  
Or yet in wise old__Ravenclaw,__  
if you've a ready mind,__  
Where those of wit and learning,__  
Will always find their kind;__  
Or perhaps in__Slytherin__  
You'll make your real friends,__  
Those cunning folks use any means__  
To achieve their ends.__  
So put me on! Don't be afraid!__  
And don't get in a flap!__  
You're in safe hands (though I have none)__  
For I'm a Thinking Cap!"_

The entire hall applauded, and Professor McGonagall allowed the clapping to die down before she unrolled a scroll of parchment. As she called out names, each student went to the stool and placed the hat on his or her head. The hat would then call out a house after deliberating on the matter, sometimes taking a few seconds and sometimes taking over a minute. Finally, the professor called out "Granger, Draco!" and Draco separated himself from his siblings to go sit on the stool. He placed the hat on his head and the brim covered his eyes.

"Interesting," said the hat, "You've an interesting mind. Going to be difficult to sort you. I think we can cross off Gryffindor – you're brave, but that's not your driving force. No, not Gryffindor. Not Hufflepuff, either, I think… No, you don't have quite the work ethic to be in that house. So, Ravenclaw or Slytherin? Hmmm… you have a good mind, but… oh! There's something, a nice thirst to prove yourself… I've got it. SLYTHERIN!" The hat called the last word out to the entire Hall, and Draco took the hat off his head. He walked over to the Slytherin table, where the students were clapping politely and sat down. He noticed a few students glaring at him, but as they all focused back on the hat he wrote it off as his imagination.

"Granger, Dudley!"

Dudley gave Hermione's hand a reassuring squeeze before letting go and walking to the stool. She smiled at him gratefully and he smiled back before placing the hat over his head.

"Ah! You're going to much easier than your brother to sort. No less complicated, but your primary traits are definitely more focused. HUFFLEPUFF!" the hat called, and Dudley took it off to go over to the now-cheering table. He looked back at where Draco was sitting and grinned, reminding his brother that it didn't really matter what house they were in. As he sat down, all the students around him congratulated him on making Hufflepuff.

"Granger, Hermione!"

Hermione took a deep breath before walking up to the stool and putting on the hat.

"_Hello, Mr. Sorting Hat," she thought. "Could you please place me in one of the houses that my brothers aren't in? I love them very much, but I don't want it to look like I'm choosing one over the other. If we're all in different houses, that will be easier."_

"Well, I have to say I have never heard that request before. Usually I get requests for siblings to be in the same house. At least you look more like a Gryffindor or Ravenclaw anyway. You have quite the questioning mind, don't you? A good memory, too. And you're quite adventurous as well, with the potential for great bravery and great deeds… better be… GRYFFINDOR!"

Hermione smiled and jumped up from the stool, thinking "_Thank you, Mr. Sorting Hat." _before removing the hat form her head and going over to the Gryffindor table. She noticed that one of the boys her brothers had been talking with on the train – Finnegan, she thought she had heard McGonagall say – was also a Gryffindor. Neville was soon also sorted into Gryffindor after an agonizingly long time under the hat. Harry Potter-Weasley was sorted with the p-students, not the w's, and he joined them at the Gryffindor table. The three older red-heads were grinning madly when he walked over, and the bespectacled boy looked rather relived. Oliver Rivers, another of the boys Hermione had seen with her brothers, went into Hufflepuff. Ronald Weasley joined his brothers in Gryffindor, to the loud cheering of the four other Weasleys.

After the last student was sorted (Zabini, Blaise, Slytherin), Dumbledore stood, beaming.

"Welcome! Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!"

He sat down to the cheering of the student body and the tables filled up with more food than Hermione had ever seen. Everyone began piling food onto their plates and conversations started up between students.

"Hi, my name is Lavender Brown," said one of the girls at the Gryffindor table, and all the first years seated there started to introduce themselves.

"Pavarti Patil."

"Dean Tomas."

"Seamus Finnegan."

"Ron Weasley."

"Harry Potter-Weasley."

"Fay Dunbar."

"Hermione Granger."

"You're the one with the brother in Slytherin, right? Must've been awful growing up with a snake in your house." Ron commented, looking sorry for Hermione.

"What do you mean, 'must've been awful'? Draco is a wonderful brother, as is Dudley."

"Everybody knows that the snakes are evil. They're foul gits, the lot of 'em, all the way back to the Founders. Slytherin had a falling out with the rest of the founders and left because he thought only purebloods had the right to learn magic."

"That's ridiculous. They can't all be bad, and it's mighty prejudiced of you to say they are. Besides, you know Merlin? That guy you all say was so wonderful? He was a Slytherin. It said so in _Hogwarts, A History._ There must be some more recent examples as well, but I don't know them off the top of my head."

"Yeah, Draco seemed like an alright bloke on the train," Seamus cut in. "Didn't act like an evil git at all."

"Well – " Ron started, but Harry cut him off.

"Leave it, Ron. You aren't going to change their minds by arguing with them. Besides, Draco's muggleborn, right? Like you, Hermione?" He looked to the girl for confirmation.

"Well, I don't know, he's adopted, but I don't see why it matters."

"It doesn't, not really, but a lot of Slytherins think it does. So he might be having an awful time over in the snake pit. Bit of a black sheep in there, I don't know why the hat put a muggleborn in with those bigots," Harry said, looking thoughtful.

"Why do they care? It's not like heritage makes one person better than the next."

"_I_ never said it did. It's just what some people think. Look, it's kinda complicated."

"I like complicated things. Try explaining it." Hermione shot back.

"Alright. So there are these families that call themselves pure-bloods…"

~G~

Meanwhile, at the Slytherin table…

Draco piled food onto his plate, trying to ignore the glares that seemed to be coming his way from some of the older students. He didn't know why they seemed so upset with him; he hadn't done anything wrong. Only one kid seemed to not be glaring at him or ignoring him, and he was staring at Draco like he was trying to figure something out.

"Hello," he said to the boy – a tall, pale kid with long brown hair. "I'm Draco Granger. Who are you?"

"Theodore Nott." The boy said after a pause. "Your siblings – the Hufflepuff and the Gryffindor – they don't look like you."

"No, my brother Dudley and I are adopted. I never knew my biological family, but Dudley and 'Mione are great."

Theodore nodded slowly, still staring at Draco with a calculating eye. "Never knew them? Not even a single memory?"

"No. Not even one," He returned Theodore's calculating look. "Why?"

Theodore shook his head slightly and smirked like he had figured something out.

"No reason. Do you like Quidditch?"

"Yeah, it's a pretty cool sport. What's your favorite team?"

~G~

Meanwhile, at the Hufflepuff table…

The Hufflepuffs had all introduced themselves to each other, and now the older years were talking about their summers while the first years discussed their lives before Hogwarts. Occasionally one of the older students would mention something about a class and the first years would get to hear stories about the teacher or what to expect in the first few classes. Herbology was, apparently, usually a fun class if you liked gardening, Transfiguration was often difficult but McGonagall was always fair, Charms was less difficult than Transfiguration but still a hard class in its own right, History of Magic was unfailingly dull (the advice was to ask a Ravenclaw or a history geek for help), and Potions was an alright class so long as nobody got on Snape's bad side. Defense Against the Dark Arts was a potluck sort of class – the teacher was new every year, so you never knew what sort of teacher you would get.

Dudley thought the other students in his year seemed nice enough – a few were a bit quiet, and Ernie was a bit pompous, but they were a good crowd. Oliver managed to worm his way into most conversations, making jokes or comments when he overheard something interesting. By the time dessert came out, Oliver and Dudley were well on their way to being best friends.

~G~

After the last of the desserts disappeared, Dumbledore rose to his feet and the hall fell silent.

"Just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you. First, we welcome back Professor Quirrell from his year-long sabbatical. He will be taking on the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts."

Quirrill stood shakily for a moment as a few students applauded, then dropped back into his seat.

"First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our other students would do well to remember that as well."

His gaze flashed in the direction of the Gryffindor table, where Fred and George Weasley sat grinning at him.

"I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors. Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch. And finally, I must tell you all that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."

A few students chuckled, but the laughter soon died down when Dumbledore's face remained serious.

"And now, bedtime. Off you trot!"

The students began to rise from the tables, and the prefects gathered all the first years into groups before leading them out of the hall.

Hello again! Sorry this took so long, but when I finally started writing this there was a hurricane and the power went out, and then I had a play to rehearse for, so I was busy. Thankfully I wasn't hit very hard by Sandy, but I know some people were. Anyway, the trio is finally sorted! Thoughts? Fun fact: quantum teleportation has been achieved between two macroscopic objects! And I don't own Harry Potter, nor the words which I have quoted from Sorcerer's stone. The amount quoted in this chapter should be the most I'll ever use of direct quotes from the book, and sorry but I didn't cite anything. Any quotes are from Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone.


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